WBCCI International Rally, Madison WI

International Rallies are always full of excitement and action, for me. It’s not the schedule; it’s the people. They show up with smiles on, ready to see all their Airstream friends again, and it’s like a big homecoming every time. It’s great to see the folks who have been such good friends to us over the years, and even more great to meet new friends, like Michael and Tina Lambert (pictured below). Michael is the author of our lead article in the Fall 2009 issue of Airstream Life magazine, about touring Route 66. Sunday was our first chance to meet in person, and my first chance to check out their very cool trailer.

So much has happened, so many people, so many trailers, that I can’t even capture it all in my head right now. Instead of trying to blog an entire day of non-stop socializing, I’ll just put up a few pictures of the people.

Frank Yensan and his daughter. Those of you who listen to The VAP know who Frank is. He recently started a restoration shop, and you can see his ad in the Marketplace section of the Summer 2009 Airstream Life. He was parked in the vintage area not far from Rob Baker of The VAP.

Glenn Thomas (at right) is a second generation Airstream dealer, up in Wentzville MO. His father’s name is on the door: Bill Thomas Airstream. Glenn is a good friend and a fervent supporter of the magazine. We always like to visit with him. He grew up living and breathing Airstream.

John Fuller (left) shows the original WBCCI badge assigned to members way back when. I’ve only seen two of these, and the other one was being worn by Dale “Pee Wee” Schwamborn.

Brad Cornelius, Editorial Illustrator for Airstream Life magazine (right). Brad is just a genius with illustration, and his work has appeared in most of the issues, along with two covers. He dropped in for the day, without his very nice ’65 Globe Trotter.

David Winick showed up with his latest project. He’s working on a 1948 Airstream Wee Wind, which is a fairly rare and very cute little trailer. At the moment it’s just an “aluminum tent” with no interior. In the photo, you can see David Winick and Ken Faber peering inside. When David has it done, I expect we’ll feature it in Airstream Life, since his work is always exemplary and unique.

Jim Russell always seems to have a project going. He unveiled his 1949 Airstream Clipper here, for the first time. It’s very well done inside and out. I shot the interior for the files. I always photograph every cool trailer I can get to, because I never know when I’ll need a particular shot. (This is why my photo archive tops 100 gigabytes.)

We could probably spend another day at the rally, but we’ve got other things to do this week. The plan is to move out of the state park today and find a spot where my phone and Internet work better, then commute back to the rally next weekend. The weather has been spectacular since a cold front went through on Saturday night, and there’s a lot we want to do while it stays comfortably cool and dry. As always, it will be a mix of work and play.